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‘India-Pakistan Bilateral Relations: Key for regional cooperation in South Asia’

by

Dr. Rajiv Kumar,Centre for Policy Research,New Delhi.

Abstract:

It is unarguable that India’s national interests will be better served through a more successful regional cooperation in South Asia and the strengthening of SAARC. However, attempts to pursue a ‘SAARC minus one’ strategy by isolating Pakistan will not yield desired results because of Pakistan’s position in South Asia and its strong nexus with China, with the latter having openly declared its intentions for greater presence in South Asia. Therefore, India will have to evolve its own policy stance such that Pakistan is encouraged to engage more actively with South Asia and promote South Asian regional integration. The paper argues that a beginning can be made by adopting a more nuanced policy in our bilateral relations with Pakistan and makes some suggestions in this regard.

Speaker:

Dr. Rajiv Kumar is an Economist and is currently Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. Dr. Kumar is also Chancellor of the Gokhale Institute of Economics and Politics in Pune. He is the author of several books on the Indian economy and India's national security. Dr. Kumar has a Ph.D from Lucknow University and a D.Phil in Economics from Oxford University. His publications include In the National Interest: A Strategic Foreign Policy for India, 2010 (with Santosh Kumar), Many Futures of India, 2011, Exploding Aspirations: Unlocking India’s Future, 2014.